Duecento

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Duecento (

Italian culture of the 13th century - that is to say 1200 to 1299. During this period the first shoots of the Italian Renaissance appeared, in literature and art, to be developed in the following trecento
period.

The period built on the so-called Renaissance of the 12th century, and movements originating elsewhere, such as the Gothic architecture of France. Most of the innovation in both the visual arts and literature was concentrated in the second half of the century, after about 1250, when major new directions opened up in both painting and sculpture, mostly in northern Italy, and the Dolce Stil Novo (Sweet New Style) emerged in poetry.

Characteristics

In the 13th century, much of Europe experienced strong economic growth. The trade routes of the Italian states linked with those of established Mediterranean ports and eventually the Hanseatic League of the Baltic and northern regions of Europe to create a network economy in Europe for the first time since the 4th century. The city-states of Italy expanded greatly during this period and grew in power.

florin of Florence
started to be the main currency of European trade during the Duecento

During this period, the modern commercial infrastructure developed, with the creation in Italy of the

Republic of Genova
dominated the trade in the Mediterranean sea.

Many argue that the ideas that characterized the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th century Florence, in particular with the writings of

Giotto
(1267–1337).

The Duecento was followed by the beginning of the Italian Renaissance during the Trecento.

Literature

The thirteenth-century Italian literary revolution helped set the stage for the Renaissance. During this century, the standard modern Italian language began to be fixed, mainly as a literary language. Previously each region used its own language, as many continue to do, at least in the common spoken language. The standard modern Italian language began in poetic and literary writings of Tuscan and Sicilian writers of the 12th century, and the grammar and core lexicon are basically unchanged from those used in Florence in the 13th century.[5]

It was only in the 13th century that Italian authors began writing in their native language rather than Latin, French, or Provençal. The 1250s saw a major change in Italian poetry as the Dolce Stil Novo (Sweet New Style, which emphasized Platonic rather than courtly love) came into its own, pioneered by poets like Guittone d'Arezzo and Guido Guinizelli. Especially in poetry, major changes in Italian literature had been taking place decades before the Renaissance truly began. An increasing number of works began to be written in the Italian language in addition to the flood of Latin and Greek texts that constituted the mainstream of the Italian Renaissance.

Written works expanded beyond works of

The Divine Comedy reflects a distinctly medieval world view, and did much to establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written (also in most present-day Italian-market editions), as the standardized Italian language.[6]

Christianity remained a major influence for artists and authors, with the classics coming into their own as a second primary influence.

Literature in Latin continued to be written, with Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica a massive and unfinished summary and exploration of the theology of the medieval church, which has continued to be influential.

Painting

Duccio di Buoninsegna
, c. 1280

Madonna and Child were copied, though the full Byzantine technique and style was not. This remained the predominant style in Italy until new developments came in Tuscany
and Rome later in the century, and remained common in many areas well into the next century and beyond.

The art of the region of Tuscany (and northern Italy) in the second half of the 13th century was dominated by two masters: Cimabue of Florence and Duccio of Siena. Their commissions were mostly religious paintings, several of them being very large altarpieces showing the Madonna and Child. These two painters, with their contemporaries, Guido of Siena, Coppo di Marcovaldo and the mysterious painter upon whose style the school may have originated, the so-called Master of St Bernardino, all worked in a manner that was highly formalised and dependent upon the ancient tradition of icon painting.[7] Cimabue and Duccio both took steps in the direction of greater naturalism, as did their contemporary, Pietro Cavallini of Rome.

Giotto, Kiss of Judas, Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1305

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, in the same room as Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna and Duccio's Ruccellai Madonna where the stylistic comparisons between the three can easily be made.[9] One of the features apparent in Giotto's work is his observation of naturalistic perspective. He is regarded as the herald of the Renaissance.[10]

Sculpture

Architrave of door to the Pisa Baptistery, c. 1200
Nicola Pisano, Nativity and Annunciation scene from the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery, 1260

Roman sarcophagi, while the known statues were nearly all dignified but rather static standing portraits.[11]

Nativity of Christ at the Pisa baptistery; most depictions at this period would have shown two scenes in different compartments. Pisano's youth in his native Apulia in the far south of Italy was passed when Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor reigned, and mostly lived there, promoting a Roman revival in the arts. Pisano is clearly influenced by study of Ancient Roman sarcophagi.[12]

The Pisa pulpit was probably originally polychrome, which had been usual for Italian Romanesque sculpture. It also seems to have largely carved by Nicola himself.[13] The Arca di San Domenico, a large free-standing tomb monument for Saint Dominic in Bologna, was begun in 1264, though work by many other hands continued for centuries. Nicola and his team completed the reliefs around the sarcophagus.

Pulpit of Sant' Andrea, Pistoia, by Giovanni Pisano, 1297-1301

Nicola's son Giovanni Pisano took over his father's workshop in the 1280s, and was much more receptive to Gothic style than his father. His Pulpit of Sant' Andrea, Pistoia is similar in form to his father's ones in Pisa and Siena, but shows a different style.[14] Over the next century Gothic and classical influences were found together in many large works, sometimes in contention.[15]

The other leading sculptor of the period was Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240 – 1300/1310), who was also an architect. Born in Tuscany, he also trained with Nicola Pisano, and was his chief assistant on the Siena Cathedral Pulpit. After he began working as an independent master he spent two periods in Rome, bringing the new Tuscan style there. He worked on a number of papal tombs.

Architecture

Romanesque
tradition.

The Dominican and Franciscan orders of

Giotto
, and others in the next century.

The most important buildings include

Sant'Andrea in Vercelli
, also featuring Antelami's influences.

This century saw the construction of numerous Gothic buildings for the Mendicant Orders. The most important ones include:

Also notable is the civil and military construction program promoted by Emperor and King of Sicily

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in southern Italy
at the beginning of the century. The most important works promoted by him include:

In this period some cathedrals were also constructed or finished, such as Siena Cathedral.

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "duecento". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Art (3rd ed.), s.v. "Quattrocento".
  3. ISBN 9780691162409
    .
  4. ^ Knight, Kevin (2017). "Dante and his time". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 October 2018 – via New Advent.
  5. ^ Coletti, Vittorio (2011). "Storia della lingua". Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. Retrieved 10 October 2015. L'italiano di oggi ha ancora in gran parte la stessa grammatica e usa ancora lo stesso lessico del fiorentino letterario del Trecento.
  6. JSTOR 478819
    .
  7. OCLC 5976552
    .
  8. Lives of the Artists
    .
  9. Italian Renaissance painting, development of themes
  10. OCLC 518807
    .
  11. ^ Clark, 219–221, 236–237; Avery, 181; Seymour, 8
  12. ^ Hartt, 51–58; Avery, 11–18; White, 74–91; Osborne, 876–877
  13. ^ White, 81-83
  14. ^ White, 113–142; Hartt, 55–58
  15. ^ White, 591–614

Bibliography

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